TROUBLED WATERS - DOCUMENTARY

ABOUT IMPACTS OF OVERFISHING.

Transcript
00:16
[Music]
00:26
our world is a world of water the oceans
00:31
cover 71% of the surface of the earth
00:33
and provide us with the oxygen we need
00:35
for every two breaths we take from space
00:40
the seas are a blue and calm void yet
00:44
under the surface they hold life
00:46
mysteries and wonders we could scarcely
00:49
imagine
00:50
[Music]
01:04
[Applause]
01:06
[Music]
01:10
today much of this life is threatened by
01:14
the actions of the planets top predator
01:16
man pollution climate change and
01:21
intensive overfishing threatens a
01:23
significant amount of the life in our
01:25
seas it also puts at risk the
01:33
livelihoods of those who work at sea
01:35
those who enjoy its spoils and those
01:39
that rely heavily on marine life to
01:41
survive individuals and groups who
01:44
document and study the marine
01:46
environment
01:47
may find that many of these wonderful
01:48
creatures become lost they may be the
01:51
case that much of the marine life we see
01:53
today is lost to history and as the seas
01:56
continue to change we may find that much
01:59
of the life around us can only ever be
02:01
seen through a screen
02:03
[Music]
02:12
[Music]
02:30
the ability to supply what an important
02:35
basic foodstuffs from somewhere that's
02:40
so close it's in everybody's best
02:42
interests that any profit that comes
02:46
from the scene is sustainable that the
02:49
stocks can survive at a reasonable level
02:52
and supply profit and the food stores
02:56
with an acceptable amount of impact on
02:59
the environment
03:01
humanity has enjoyed a long and fruitful
03:04
relationship with the sea for many
03:06
thousands of years and for nearly all of
03:09
human history there has been enough fish
03:11
in the sea to feed us all as technology
03:14
developed in the 20th century fishing
03:16
vessels could catch more fish in more
03:18
places than ever before today these
03:21
developments continue and we have a
03:23
global fishing industry worth nearly two
03:26
hundred and fifty billion dollars per
03:27
year in a world where one in seven of us
03:31
were lied directly on fish to survive
03:33
increasing global population squeezes on
03:36
resources and increased consumption
03:38
raises the question can we continue to
03:41
exploit the sea without changing it
03:43
forever
03:45
[Music]
03:48
in 1988 the amount of fish caught at sea
03:52
peaked and since then global fisheries
03:55
catch has stabilized at around 80
03:58
billion tons per year but because demand
04:00
for fish did not be the majority of
04:02
stocks today are at or beyond their
04:05
maximum sustainable yields consequently
04:09
fishing has played a major role in
04:10
changing the dynamics and demographics
04:12
in the sea fishing has transformed the
04:15
marine environment in a couple of ways
04:17
the first obviously is the removal of
04:19
fish when you start fishing an area then
04:22
the big old fish disappear first and
04:25
gradually then as if fishing intensifies
04:28
the species disappear in order of their
04:31
size so the biggest the most vulnerable
04:32
ones disappear before the resilient one
04:36
so what we have left today is resilient
04:39
species that can cope with high levels
04:41
of removals the oceans today are very
04:46
different to how they used to be
04:48
while it may appear that the oceans are
04:50
healthy and that there are plenty of
04:52
fish in the sea the reality is that we
04:54
have over fished marine environments and
04:56
major changes have occurred one of the
05:00
most significant of those changes has
05:02
been the reduction in the number of
05:04
large and predatory meaning species
05:06
because large marine species are so
05:09
commercially valuable
05:10
they've been continuously targeted by
05:12
fishes over time but by fishing too
05:14
quickly and too vigorously fishes put
05:17
pressure on the ability of the marine
05:19
species to replenish themselves
05:23
even today where there is large fish
05:26
there is overfishing the classic example
05:30
is the bluefin tuna which everyone talks
05:33
about and the part of the reason that
05:35
the bluefin tunas is so threatened and
05:38
it's the cause there I think people
05:40
don't realize quite how large and these
05:42
animals are they can you know well in
05:44
excess of 2 meters long and and as a
05:48
result that means that in terms along
05:51
with the age that they reach sexual
05:53
maturity is much later and and
05:56
overfishing more often will end the
05:58
targeting and the smaller individual is
06:01
so way before they're able to reproduce
06:02
not to be confused with the tuna that is
06:05
sold in cans the Atlantic bluefin is an
06:07
endangered species but also one of the
06:09
most valuable fish in the world
06:11
the over exploitation of bluefin tuna
06:14
has been a concern for many years but
06:16
because the fish is a delicacy in some
06:18
parts of the world and an individual
06:20
tuner may sell for hundreds of thousands
06:22
of dollars exploitation is continuing at
06:24
an unsustainable rate the enduring
06:27
popularity of bluefin tuna in the Far
06:29
East is now threatening stocks that were
06:31
long held to be healthy in recent years
06:34
has become more obvious that severe
06:36
depletion of the Pacific stock has
06:37
occurred scientists from the
06:39
International Committee of tuna and tuna
06:41
like species in the Pacific Ocean
06:42
reported earlier in 2012 that the
06:45
spawning Bahamas Pacific bluefin tuna
06:47
has fallen by ninety six point four
06:49
percent against unfished levels
06:54
this sort of overfishing isn't something
06:57
that is just limited to distant oceans
06:59
we've also seen similarly dramatic stock
07:02
declines closer to home : coordinate
07:05
North Sea which is probably one of our
07:06
most iconic species was festered of
07:10
extremely pure estate and there was
07:12
concerns that it would go the same way
07:13
as cod stocks and the Grand Banks and
07:15
America really completely crashed the
07:18
majority of cod consumed in the UK does
07:20
not come from British waters instead we
07:23
rely on imports from Iceland the Bering
07:25
Sea and the Baltic to provide the fish
07:28
for one of the nation's favourite meals
07:31
throughout the 1960s a healthy stock
07:34
size and a healthy population saw a
07:36
fishing frenzy in the North Sea the when
07:39
stocks showed signs of decline the
07:41
frenzy remained steady
07:46
so what went wrong firstly fishing
07:50
mortality which is the rate that Fisher
07:51
removed from a stock increase the
07:53
percentage of stock sizes fell from 35
07:56
percent per year in nineteen sixty to
07:58
sixty percent per year in 1990
08:01
additionally fishers were using nets
08:04
with mesh that was far too small meaning
08:06
Cod was being caught as young as one
08:07
year old well before they're able to
08:09
reach sexual maturity this meant there
08:12
was simply never enough young fish to
08:14
rebuild stocks when this occurs it is
08:17
known as recruitment overfishing and
08:20
unfortunately due to some foresight from
08:22
the industry and uses some good
08:24
management those stocks actually it's
08:26
time to increase in the are coming back
08:27
but very very slowly they're certainly
08:31
getting there but they're certainly not
08:32
in any state yet that we would consider
08:36
a sustainable but we hope the next
08:38
couple of years definitely they will be
08:40
recovering which is a good news story
08:41
but following on from something terrible
08:44
that happened in her seats and it
08:46
stopped telling something we wouldn't
08:48
want to see again
08:53
the pattern of depleting large and
08:55
predatory fish from our oceans is
08:57
something that has been observed across
08:58
the world and when predator numbers are
09:01
reduced in an area this can
09:02
significantly alter food web dynamics on
09:05
a global scale these changes in the food
09:08
webs that have occurred as a result of
09:09
overfishing large fish was first
09:11
described in 1997 by Professor Daniel
09:15
Pauly infernal system is going to be
09:19
stable for a long time all forms will
09:23
evolve that are large rather than those
09:27
large fish we involving a sister and it
09:31
will they will dominate the system in
09:33
the sense that they are themselves no
09:35
predator and this homes can utilize
09:41
resources or most economically large
09:45
animal eat for example per unit body
09:48
weight in less than small animals so the
09:53
large animals however are more sensitive
09:56
to exploitation because they need need a
09:58
long time to reach maturity and
10:01
reproduce so humans are which will
10:05
target the larger animal first our
10:08
fisheries target as much as possible the
10:11
larger animals and they have been for
10:13
example or on the British Isles the
10:16
large fish have been exterminated all
10:18
with sharply reduced or really hundred
10:22
years ago nine and then we are fishing
10:25
fishing the medium fish we become which
10:29
become the biggest available and because
10:32
of shifting baselines we think they are
10:34
the biggest animals but they are big
10:36
assign us a call and they after as we
10:41
target the medium-sized fish they
10:43
themselves become depleted and so on at
10:47
the end we have only race on fish and
10:50
because of chicken based on we think
10:52
that is that it is the ecosystem as it
10:54
should be as if as it was before which
10:57
equations and and that is a process I
11:00
have described as fishing down buying
11:05
food
11:06
and you can identify it all over the
11:09
place
11:09
and this process has been untested by
11:14
our colleagues not only a short time
11:18
series or political time series that
11:21
include will little fish and offshore
11:24
fish and where the process is masked but
11:28
it is it is very very prevalent all over
11:31
the world one way scientists are able to
11:36
determine whether or not fishing down
11:38
marine food webs has occurred has been
11:40
to record change in the mean trophic
11:42
level of Marine landings over time the
11:45
mean trophic level is an indicator based
11:47
on the position that organisms hold
11:49
within food webs if the level is seen to
11:52
fall it is suggestive that larger
11:54
organisms are being depleted and a
11:56
greater proportion of smaller organisms
11:58
are being caught poorly and his
11:59
colleagues argue that this is happening
12:01
in many of the world's oceans
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[Music]
12:06
in European waters the change in mean
12:09
trophic level indicates that fishing
12:11
down the food web has occurred in almost
12:13
all areas although some regions have
12:16
seen a depletion of fish stocks without
12:17
an apparent change in mean trophic
12:19
levels since recording began in the
12:21
Mediterranean for example 95% of fish
12:24
stocks are overexploited but there has
12:26
been little change in the mean trophic
12:27
level since the 1950s the scientists to
12:30
determine how regions like the
12:32
Mediterranean may have changed prior to
12:34
monitoring fish catch they can turn to
12:36
an unlikely ally historical imagery is
12:40
obviously something which we can look at
12:42
to learn from about what the sea was
12:45
like in the past and this painting
12:47
behind me was done by Fran Snyder's in
12:50
Holland in the 17th century and it
12:53
depicts a fanciful scene of a fish
12:56
market and on that fishmonger slab there
13:00
are these huge fish things like right in
13:02
the centre of sturgeon a large wolf fish
13:05
with its Martha Cape Cod there skates in
13:09
there and the thing that it tells us is
13:12
that there was a wide variety of fish
13:14
that were being eaten at that time and
13:16
and Nan fish - there's a porpoise in
13:18
there as well and seals and the other
13:21
thing it tells us they were very big you
13:23
know they the animals that are being
13:25
depicted in these sorts of paintings are
13:28
almost universally large and it doesn't
13:31
doesn't just come down to artists
13:32
license it's about what was actually
13:34
available at the time there there are
13:36
Delft tiles from the 17th century which
13:39
show people holding huge card that had
13:41
chest high and stretch all the way down
13:43
to the ground so there was a wide
13:46
variety of big animals present in the
13:49
seas around Britain and in Northern
13:51
Europe that has changed a great deal
13:53
today so there are far fewer species
13:56
that are big and there are far fewer
13:59
things on offer on those fishmongers
14:02
slabs and there were then
14:05
as well as changing the type of fish
14:08
being caught at sea the way fishing is
14:10
occurring and where fish are being
14:11
caught has changed significantly over
14:13
the last few decades one reason our
14:17
supermarket still have no shortage of
14:19
fish to sell is because fishing effort
14:21
has increased and fleets have
14:22
continuously moved into new areas as
14:25
fish stocks have fallen in coastal
14:27
waters and the technology used in
14:29
fishing has improved we have seen the
14:30
industry move further offshore to meet
14:32
demand
14:33
now even the deep sea has been fished on
14:36
an industrial scale well I think the the
14:42
drivers of deep-sea fishing on an
14:44
industrial scale increased demand for
14:46
fisheries products searching for new
14:49
opportunities by fishing bass fishing
14:51
fleets and overcapacity and overfishing
14:57
in coastal waters and open ocean pelagic
14:59
water sea and in the reality is that
15:02
that the fishing is going ever deeper
15:04
there are some disturbing trends in the
15:06
world of deplete fisheries which which I
15:08
can see based on the work I've been
15:09
doing one of which is developing fishery
15:14
here in the Northeast Atlantic for
15:15
Potomac tuffets lantern fish but it's
15:19
targeting a species of which we don't
15:21
know a lot about and it's targeting
15:25
these these fish or fish meal and fish
15:27
oil so grind up for aquaculture fien or
15:29
chicken feed and the catches in the
15:33
Northeast Atlantic have gone from almost
15:35
nothing to about a hundred and thirty
15:36
hundred forty thousand tons over the
15:38
course of last several years and here we
15:41
have a fishery deepwater pelagic fishery
15:44
that's potentially now exploiting fish
15:47
stocks well below the upper 200 meters
15:51
and potentially going down into a
15:54
thousand years or more often species in
15:57
the deep sea take a long time to reach
15:59
maturity and have relatively few
16:01
offspring the intensive industrial
16:03
fishing required to make deep-sea
16:05
fishing economically viable in
16:06
combination with the biology of the
16:08
species means stocks are often over
16:11
the industrialization of fishing has
16:13
been phenomenal um economies of scale of
16:17
driven ships now that we now have the
16:19
term super trawler we never you said the
16:21
term super trawler most of the people
16:23
are familiar with the trawler that would
16:25
lead from the local port fairly small
16:27
thing fairly easy to envisage that
16:30
that's not going to do too much harm
16:32
nowadays we've got trawlers the size of
16:34
our liners converted tankers are now
16:37
storing fish huge amounts of fish the
16:40
Margaret's in Australia that was banned
16:42
in Australia is a great example of this
16:44
the Margaret and similar vessels
16:46
represent the extreme industrial end of
16:49
fishing owned by huge multinational
16:51
corporations vessels of this size can
16:53
catch around 200 tons of fish per day
16:55
that's about the same weight as 20 buses
16:58
in the Pacific super trawlers provide an
17:01
example of the kind of destruction they
17:03
can leave in their wake
17:04
having being blamed for decimating the
17:06
population of jack mackerel a species
17:08
once thought impossible to over fish
17:13
super trawlers move from area to area
17:15
catching as much fish as they can this
17:18
year the margaret has been fishing off
17:20
the coast of Africa for fish destined
17:23
for Europe any discerning consumer can
17:26
make a judgment here by area of capture
17:29
if something as is says Mauritania on it
17:33
then you want to fight if you're worried
17:34
about the sustainability you want to
17:36
find out who caught it
17:37
which country was actually called by and
17:41
that's the sort of thing I would avoid
17:44
because I know the practices of it that
17:46
go on in that area and they are not
17:49
sustainable that detrimental detrimental
17:51
to both the environment stopped and more
17:55
importantly from me as a fisherman to
17:57
the local fishermen and their their
17:58
economy which is very small-scale in
18:01
Europe the demand for seafood cannot be
18:04
met only by exploiting European waters
18:06
consequently super trawlers and other
18:08
large vessels are fishing in other parts
18:10
of the world to help meet EU demand
18:15
much of this fishing has been taking
18:16
place in waters belonging to developing
18:18
nations under trade deals known as
18:20
bilateral trade agreements for Europe
18:24
this means the EU is given access to
18:26
foreign waters and in exchange promises
18:28
to aid the development of the host
18:30
nation Africa is an attractive
18:35
destination for EU vessels as the seas
18:37
are rich and productive and the local
18:39
fishing industry is too underdeveloped
18:40
to exploit it
18:45
however these trade agreements do not
18:48
offer the best deal for Africa the
18:51
European Union is under paying for the
18:53
fish they are taking and EU vessels are
18:55
simply extracting too much putting the
18:59
local fishing industry at great risk
19:02
there are quite a number of industrial
19:06
fisheries for species that are very low
19:12
down on the food chain that off it's not
19:14
that affined per se the idea of fishing
19:17
for them wrong it's the fact the
19:20
quantities involved the frequency
19:23
involved and because they are generally
19:28
multi-million pound operations run by
19:32
companies they have very very strong
19:35
lobbying powers fishing effort across
19:38
the world is supported with financial
19:39
subsidies to help ensure a fishing can
19:42
continue and faced with difficulties
19:43
globally around 26 billion dollars a
19:46
year is given to the fishing industry
19:48
that's more than the UN peacekeeping
19:50
budget digital music sales and the cost
19:52
of London Olympics combined
19:56
while subsidies are often used well to
19:58
manage and enforce fisheries
20:00
conservation efforts over half of global
20:02
subsidies are thought to contribute to
20:03
increase fishing effort a major
20:05
component of overfishing lobbying by
20:10
large multimillion-pound corporations
20:11
means that taxpayers money is supporting
20:14
super trawlers and other destructive
20:15
fishing enterprises and the reality of
20:18
it is without taxpayer-subsidized ation
20:20
these vessels would likely be too
20:22
expensive to run in the European Union
20:27
it is very difficult to determine
20:28
exactly how the fishing subsidy fund is
20:30
being spent according to Jack Thurston
20:33
an investigative journalist and advocate
20:36
for greater EU transparency Jack and his
20:40
team tried to determine just exactly how
20:42
EU money was being spent but found that
20:44
information was very hard to come by
20:47
it's a real step backwards in
20:49
transparency and at a time when we
20:51
desperately need to know how this money
20:53
is being spent our EU funds being used
20:57
to fish for over exploited fish stocks
20:59
or perhaps worse for criminal fishing
21:02
operations we just don't know what is
21:05
most startling is that neither does the
21:08
Commission because we know that they
21:10
have not themselves asks for this data
21:12
from national governments super trawlers
21:17
have been observed in the past breaking
21:19
fishing regulations here we see three
21:22
large vessels involved in the illegal
21:24
action of transshipping
21:25
where capture swaps between ships to
21:27
circumvent quota limits but has a human
21:31
Egan to fishing companies that continue
21:32
to break the rules
21:33
what Jack's team found was that fishing
21:36
companies that had been caught breaking
21:37
rules continue to receive funding from
21:39
the European Union evidence that fishing
21:42
subsidies need to reform it's not only
21:49
the economics efficiently performing for
21:52
the thinking behind how our seas are
21:53
managed needs to change large areas of
21:56
the ocean remained completely unmanaged
21:58
or protected thus increasing the risk
22:00
from overfishing or even from fishing
22:02
taking place illegal political action
22:05
remains a long way behind scientific
22:07
advice on how to best manage the ocean
22:09
despite strong scientific consensus and
22:11
public support for these management
22:13
decisions there are many different types
22:15
of management techniques in order to
22:17
promote fish stocks to recover and
22:20
seafloor habitats you can limit the
22:23
amount of hours fishermen spend at sea
22:26
you can control the types of gears that
22:28
they're using to exploit their fish
22:29
stocks or perhaps one of the most
22:32
increasingly used method of tools at the
22:35
moment the one that's receiving the most
22:36
attention is the establishment of
22:38
at areas these areas are close to Sun
22:41
more all types of fishing gears the
22:44
theory behind marine protected areas is
22:46
simple like nature reserves on land
22:49
marine protected areas provide different
22:51
levels of protection usually by
22:52
restricting activities within boundaries
22:54
to protect habitats and species inside
22:57
decades of research has shown that
22:59
marine protected areas can have many
23:01
positive and often rapid effects on
23:03
marine environments you can consider a
23:06
marine reserve to be a bit like money in
23:08
the bank and what you have is a deposit
23:13
they the cash in your account is
23:15
equivalent to the amount of fish that
23:18
are present in the protected area and
23:21
they spill out a certain amount of
23:23
interest each year in the way of
23:25
offspring and fish that spill over into
23:27
surrounding fishing grounds and now the
23:29
more fish you have in Europe in your
23:31
account the more that interest will be
23:34
in a net sense so it pays to fish less
23:39
because it'll build up the stocks which
23:42
means that you can catch more scientists
23:45
have expressed that we need to protect
23:47
between twenty and thirty percent of all
23:49
marine habitats across the world to the
23:51
highest degree and political targets in
23:53
2006 aimed to protect 10 percent of the
23:55
world's oceans by 2010 today in 2015
23:59
less than 3% of the world's oceans have
24:01
any type of protection and less than 1%
24:03
to the highest degree one contributing
24:07
factor to why we seem to be missing both
24:09
scientific and political targets is
24:11
pressure from the fishing industry
24:12
driven by a fear of losing business and
24:15
a mistrust of the science I have not
24:19
been presented with any outright
24:24
undeniable evidence that conservation
24:29
zones within the waters that fished by
24:32
UK fishermen would have a benefit I can
24:41
clearly understand that if you leave an
24:45
area completely untouched by human then
24:49
it will change
24:51
it will regenerate but whether or not it
24:56
will regenerate with the stocks that you
24:59
are trying to all the the species that
25:02
you are trying to enhance the life
25:04
prospects of there is very little proof
25:08
but is it true that there is little
25:10
evidence that marine protected areas
25:12
work in UK waters studies and defects
25:15
and really typical areas are less common
25:17
interpret and cold waters and
25:19
particularly lacking in the UK and this
25:21
is allowed fishermen fishing
25:22
organisations and politicians to kind of
25:25
climb on the bandwagon that Murray took
25:27
there is have no place within our waters
25:29
however our research so something very
25:31
different
25:34
Lahm Nash Bay on the island of Aaron in
25:37
Scotland was home to one of only three
25:39
fully protected no-take zones in the
25:41
United Kingdom where no fishing of any
25:43
kind is permitted within the area the
25:47
area was originally designated to
25:48
protect valuable areas of the seabed
25:50
from the impact of destructive scallop
25:52
dredging yet the establishment of lamb
25:54
lash Bay's no-take zone by the community
25:56
of Aran seabed Trust provided lee
25:58
Howarth and his team the perfect
26:00
opportunity to explore the UK's marine
26:02
protected area potential and determine
26:05
whether the protection of commercially
26:06
valuable species would benefit both the
26:08
environment and the fishing industry so
26:13
this is the size of scallops we measured
26:14
in 2013 and these white bars show how
26:17
many scallops were that size when we
26:19
caught them and you can see that the
26:21
white bars are substantially smaller
26:23
than these gray bars which are the size
26:25
of scallops within the reserve we found
26:27
that scallops were anywhere between two
26:29
to four times larger than the reserve
26:30
than outside and this is important
26:32
because older scallops have larger
26:34
reproductive organs capable of producing
26:36
substantially more eggs and larvae so
26:40
this is the abundance of juveniles
26:41
scallops within an outsider how much Bay
26:44
over the course of four years this gray
26:46
line here shows the abundance of
26:48
juvenile scallops outside the reserve
26:50
and this black line shows the abundance
26:52
of juvenile scallops in the reserve we
26:55
can kind of see that juvenile scallops
26:57
show these two-year periodic
26:58
fluctuations going from high to low
27:01
abundance every two years however during
27:04
years when there aren't even our
27:06
scallops we find that their abundance is
27:08
anywhere between two to five times
27:09
greater within the reserve than outside
27:12
and this is due to nursery habitats
27:14
growing within the Rings Oh such as
27:16
macro algae and hydroids all of which
27:19
encourage the settlement of juvenile
27:21
scallops from the seawater and becoming
27:23
attached to the seabed are they then
27:25
mature into adulthood and one day it can
27:27
be called by fishermen researchers
27:31
working in lamb lash also collaborated
27:33
with local fishermen to determine
27:35
exactly how the no-take zone was
27:37
affecting more mobile species and how in
27:39
turn this protection would benefit the
27:41
immediate local fishing industry
27:44
by engaging all stakeholders in the
27:46
dialogue about marine protected areas
27:48
both the opportunities for
27:49
conservationists and the fishing
27:51
industry should increase so what is the
27:57
story so far inland ash
27:58
we also found that within the marine
28:01
reserve we catch double the amount of
28:02
lobster
28:03
compared to if we fished ten to 20
28:06
kilometers away this is evidence of
28:08
adult lobsters moving from within the
28:11
reserve where lots of densities are very
28:13
high to outside moon serve where
28:15
densities are much lower and in science
28:18
this is called spillover that is very
28:20
important effect and reims Irv's
28:21
was not only we're getting higher
28:23
densities of commercial excited species
28:25
when the reserve also getting higher
28:27
densities of species outside the reserve
28:30
where they can contribute to fisheries
28:31
landings and this is their main selling
28:33
point this is what fishermen interested
28:35
and they want to know that really tight
28:37
areas help improve their catches
28:44
marine protected areas need to play a
28:46
vital role in the management of the Seas
28:47
not only to provide a buffer against the
28:50
impacts of expanding global fisheries
28:51
and the resulting change in our seafood
28:53
consumption but to protect the marine
28:55
ecosystems themselves from physical
28:57
damage bottom trawls in particular and
29:01
scallop dredges things that are towed
29:03
across the seabed they strip the seabed
29:06
of rich communities of invertebrates
29:09
that exist in undisturbed places and
29:12
that changes it from being this kind of
29:15
rich architectural II complex habitat
29:18
into huge open areas of shifting sands
29:21
and gravels
29:22
and that itself has a big impact on what
29:25
can live there and survive bottom
29:30
trawling is a common method of fishing
29:31
whose origins date back over 500 years
29:34
it involves a vessel pulling a net
29:36
across the seafloor the target marine
29:38
life on the seabed the net is held open
29:42
by large doors instruments that are
29:44
designed to increase the flow of fish
29:46
into the Nets mouth while the action of
29:50
a trawl moving across fragile ecosystems
29:52
can in some instances boost productivity
29:54
in an area the majority of the trawls
29:56
impacts will be negative
29:58
especially if employed in areas where
30:00
damage can occur easily such as on coral
30:02
reefs in areas where trawling occurs
30:07
frequently on fragile ground the damage
30:09
is immediate and obvious and observable
30:12
from the skies but under the surface the
30:17
damage can be even more striking
30:19
[Music]
30:31
there have been studies there are
30:33
studies that have shown that the impacts
30:36
the scarring for example on the
30:38
continental slope which is the area from
30:41
between the continental shelf the below
30:43
200 meters from from the coast out to
30:46
about 200 meters depth down in the deep
30:49
missile plane but scarring of the
30:52
continental shelf all along the North
30:55
East Atlantic from Norway all the way
30:58
down to to Spain and further south as a
31:01
result of deep sea of trawling down to
31:05
14 1500 meters
31:07
similarly zealand and australia there
31:10
have been in Australia there been
31:12
studies of sea mouths that have control
31:14
sea mouths are the tops of underwater
31:20
mountains often extinct volcanoes these
31:24
are fairly rocky surfaces and what you
31:26
often find on sea nonces a quite dense
31:28
growths of corals and sponges and other
31:31
types of species that will attach
31:32
themselves to the rock and take
31:34
advantage of the the flow of water over
31:37
the mountains to to consume the
31:39
nutrients that come with it and these
31:41
ecosystems these these corals and
31:45
sponges and other kind of attached
31:47
species on the bottom form ecosystems
31:51
and form the structure of ecosystems
31:53
which support a great deal of
31:56
biodiversity some of which may be
31:58
endemic to individual sea mounts or sea
32:00
mount clusters and studies in Australia
32:03
shown that for example a couple sea
32:05
mounts off Tasmania which were subject
32:09
to bottom trawl fishery for orange
32:11
roughy that that virtually all of the
32:15
coral that was on those sea mounts was
32:17
was destroyed was reduced to rubble as a
32:21
result of trawling in one case of one of
32:23
the sea mounts had been trolled 600
32:24
times in another case it had been trawl
32:27
three thousand times because the orange
32:29
roughy kind of comes and schools up over
32:33
top of these sea mounts so even without
32:35
the corals there the orange roughy will
32:37
continue
32:38
come back and what these crawlers did
32:39
was just trollin trollin trollin trollin
32:41
till they couldn't find any more orange
32:43
roughy probably kept on trolling for a
32:45
while longer just to see if some might
32:47
show up again before they finally
32:49
abandoned the area and by comparison
32:51
this study looked at a couple seamounts
32:54
close by but that hadn't been trawled
32:56
and they found something like 90% coral
32:59
cover on the sea month so so the
33:01
destruction can be can be immense as
33:05
well as the potential of significant
33:07
physical damage from a troll there is
33:09
also the issue of just what exactly is
33:11
being caught in a troll as net it's a
33:13
very effective method of fishing and it
33:15
can produce huge catches but there can
33:18
also be huge amounts of by catch because
33:20
you don't know what is that you are
33:23
actually catching when you've down there
33:24
and it's a blamed method of fishing
33:27
essentially I catch that is the
33:30
incidental catch of non-target species
33:32
is a significant and global fisheries
33:34
issue some studies estimate that four
33:38
out of every ten fish court worldwide is
33:40
bike
33:44
of the various different ways to catch
33:46
fish used across the world bottom
33:48
trawling for shrimp is the worst
33:50
offender in some instances it's so bad
33:54
for every one kilogram of shrimp hauled
33:57
there is 20 kilograms of bycatch
34:07
when fish or other marine animals are
34:09
caught as bycatch they are often
34:11
returned to the sea dead or dying an
34:13
incredibly wasteful process bycatch
34:17
isn't just a problem that affects fish
34:19
other animals such as birds turtles and
34:22
dolphins are often caught spica and that
34:27
leads us to look at a food product and a
34:29
logo were probably quite familiar with
34:32
dolphin friendly tuna
34:35
there have been a number of consumer led
34:37
and issues that have really really
34:42
changed fisheries one of them is dollar
34:46
in the tuna which with a real big
34:48
pushpin public painting unacceptable the
34:51
dolphins were having died to supply them
34:53
with the channel that they were getting
34:54
their tens but there's still methods
34:56
being used such as fish aggregation
34:58
devices which are still hugely impactful
35:01
in environment have huge amounts of
35:02
bycatch while this appears to be an
35:07
innocuous plank of wood floating in the
35:08
sea it is actually being placed here
35:10
with a purpose this is a fish
35:14
aggregation device a man-made or natural
35:17
object used by fishermen to attract
35:19
schools of fish making them easier to
35:21
catch they can be very simple objects or
35:25
more complex devices with attached nets
35:28
or even GPS integration these devices
35:32
allow fishermen to use their per se nets
35:34
to catch entire schools of fish but the
35:39
nature of an aggregation device means it
35:41
doesn't just attract the target species
35:43
larger predatory fish like sharks are
35:46
attracted to the schools of fish which
35:48
were attracted to the device
35:52
with per-say netting a large net can be
35:55
placed around an entire school of fish
35:56
unlike a drawstring it is pulled shut if
36:00
a shark or another non-target animal
36:02
finds itself within the net it is caught
36:05
while compared to other types of fishing
36:07
purse a netting has a relatively low
36:09
level of bycatch the use of fish
36:11
aggregation devices has increased the
36:13
percentage for example in the Indian
36:16
Ocean alone the use of FA DS may kill
36:18
nearly a million silky sharks a year so
36:22
what does all this have to do with
36:23
dolphin friendly tuna well the use of
36:26
fish aggregation devices increased after
36:28
the dolphin friendly movement expanded
36:30
in the US where tuna was being caught
36:32
with dolphin bycatch but in the UK the
36:35
tuna species we have always consumed
36:36
never associates with dolphins
36:38
so while skipjack tuna is dolphin
36:41
friendly it was never dolphin unfriendly
36:43
to begin with in fact since fish
36:46
aggregation device use has increased a
36:48
greater proportion of UK bound tuna is
36:50
caught using FA D associated per se nets
36:52
so it is likely that the bycatch figures
36:55
that dolphin friendly movements were
36:56
trying to eliminate have actually
36:58
increased so fish consumers being able
37:01
to be annoying to buy - no that's not
37:05
call using fish aggregation - faces as a
37:08
mother strong stick that they can make
37:10
to make sure that what they're eating is
37:12
hands let alone both as possible the
37:16
good news is that consumer pressure has
37:17
led to major UK supermarkets and tuna
37:19
suppliers make commitments to phase out
37:21
the supplying of FA D cor tuna in the
37:23
future it is crucial however that
37:27
consumers remain vigilant and check
37:29
whether suppliers are sticking to their
37:31
promises Tesco for example made sure
37:34
that their own brands of tuna were
37:35
caught in more sustainable ways but
37:37
continue to stuck other brands without
37:39
such green credentials thankfully after
37:42
widespread outcry from consumers Tesco
37:45
promised to rethink their sourcing
37:46
strategy
37:49
[Music]
38:00
you
38:06
so what exactly is this sustainable tuna
38:09
that many supermarkets are switching to
38:11
[Music]
38:14
these fishermen have revived a
38:17
traditional centuries-old technique for
38:19
the globalized age by using a Pollan
38:21
line tuna can be fished in an
38:23
environmentally friendly way only the
38:25
target species is caught and in
38:27
relatively low numbers the polar line
38:30
industry and the Maldives has even
38:32
achieved independent certification of
38:34
sustainability from the Marine
38:35
Stewardship Council the n3 MSC on a
38:38
global level
38:39
is relatively simple sustainable fish
38:41
for this and future generations if you
38:43
can make fishing sustainably more
38:46
profitable than fishing vest sustainably
38:48
then you can actually encourage the
38:50
market to move towards a sustainable
38:51
basis and that's the aim of the MSC as a
38:54
mission is a transformative mission to
38:56
transform the seafood market globally to
38:59
see sustainable basis the MSC is an
39:02
independent organization that certifies
39:04
and rewards fisheries that are
39:06
sustainable formed after the collapse of
39:08
cod stocks on the ground banks in the
39:10
early 1990s the MSC now gives consumers
39:13
greater confidence that the fish they
39:15
are buying can be sustainable while by
39:17
no means a perfect system the MSC has
39:19
improved standards worldwide and
39:20
simplified choice for consumers
39:24
choosing sustainable fish as a consumer
39:26
is frankly a nightmare the level of
39:29
complexity in trying to find out if a
39:31
particular fish is sustainable is
39:33
enormous you need a team of PhD
39:35
scientists behind you but every single
39:37
species and every single fish you catch
39:39
that's what the MSC provides as well as
39:42
a certification program that's aimed at
39:44
changing the way the world catches its
39:46
fish it's also an eco label when you're
39:49
buying fish looking for the MSC logo is
39:51
a great first step but it's not the only
39:53
thing that you can do by learning about
39:55
where your fish is from and how it is
39:57
caught you can begin to make good
39:59
decisions to protect the species that
40:01
are vulnerable and to reward the sectors
40:03
of the industry that are striving for
40:04
sustainability if anything I think it's
40:08
our duty to ensure that this issue
40:11
becomes controversial that people ask
40:12
questions that we encourage people to do
40:14
their own research that people are
40:15
critical and I think as long as people
40:18
are critical then they can make their
40:19
own decisions so I would say
40:21
organizations like ours but also many
40:22
other organizations they give a lot of
40:24
information about the state of the
40:26
oceans what's happening with certain
40:27
fish species in certain places
40:29
so just educate yourself you know be
40:32
informed so you can make informed
40:33
decisions so what about where we buy our
40:36
fish from are some supermarkets doing
40:39
more than others to source sustainable
40:41
fish I really think the retailers have
40:43
an important role to play a lot of
40:46
retailers make a huge effort to make
40:48
sure that they are being a sustainable
40:50
possible I'm moving towards the best
40:52
sustainability and if they can provide
40:54
their consumers with information and
40:57
actually you know engaging those
40:58
consumers they may clear tail bone I
41:01
think that's a huge huge step for them
41:03
and it also highlights which
41:05
supermarkets and retailers are willing
41:07
to engage in which ones are we purchased
41:10
a supermarkets are way up here and we si
41:13
annoyed by you're sorry I annually and
41:16
which we assist supermarkets based on
41:20
their sourcing policy is based on and
41:23
what they're selling in-store whether
41:26
they're sailing with listed species
41:27
whether they're selling any species that
41:29
are actually considered endangered and
41:33
you'd think it would remain relatively
41:35
static with and some supermarkets
41:37
remaining quite good to it but actually
41:39
there's quite a little bit a quite a lot
41:41
of movement within the tops of four or
41:43
five supermarkets and there are other
41:44
supermarkets again that just won't
41:46
engage and I think again putting your
41:49
money where your mouth is if you want a
41:52
sustainably by sustainable fresh from
41:54
supermarkets that are willing to make
41:56
changes and are willing to make sure
41:58
that our fisheries are there for the
41:59
future as well as considering buying
42:02
seafood with the MSC logo using a
42:05
seafood guide can help you buy fish that
42:07
is sustainable and avoid fish that is
42:09
not the Marine Conservation Society
42:12
purchases are good fish Cade which is a
42:14
red amber green system we are redfish we
42:17
consider fish to avoid amber fish are
42:20
fish to think about or you only
42:22
occasionally and green fish are fish
42:24
that we can send to be a more
42:25
sustainable state we base our advice
42:28
based on their scientific advice that's
42:31
available at a time and we also accept
42:33
advice from specialists in those areas
42:37
so if particular fishermen have a dish
42:40
formation they can also provide us with
42:41
that and we also this on the taper
42:44
fishing the NPAC method that fishing
42:46
method has on a stock and on the
42:48
environment as a as a whole and as well
42:51
as a number of other things like the
42:53
home will it's managed home vulnerable
42:55
species is and we consider all those
42:57
things and we produce they don't really
42:59
engage which T will give you a rundown
43:02
of our particular species and a
43:04
particular media fished in a particular
43:06
minute using a seafood guide is a great
43:09
thing to do not only will you learn more
43:11
about where your fishes from but they
43:13
can help you make informed decisions
43:14
based on the best information available
43:17
but if in some circumstances the seafood
43:20
guide cannot help you make a decision
43:21
because of limited labeling on a product
43:24
which is often the case in restaurants
43:25
do not be afraid to ask questions what
43:28
fish is in that dish what where was it
43:31
called how was it called it's quite
43:34
specific but I think it makes the
43:36
probably be eating out experience much
43:38
more enjoyable if you're able to
43:40
actually get that extra information I
43:42
think everybody gains the restaurant
43:44
does because he shows these customers
43:47
knowledgeable and also the customer
43:50
because they actually know where they're
43:51
eating which is quite important by
43:54
asking questions about the source of
43:56
your seafood you are not only improving
43:58
your experience but influencing the
44:00
retailer who may then think about their
44:02
sourcing policies or the way they label
44:04
their fish it is easy to think that
44:06
making these small changes to the way
44:08
you buy seafood will not change anything
44:10
but it can and it does small steps by
44:14
many people can weather a path that
44:15
changes the way fish are caught and sold
44:17
and achieving this is vital I guess the
44:21
biggest thing about overfishing is that
44:23
it affects everything
44:26
the ocean is the biggest life support
44:28
system we have it feeds most people on
44:31
this planet so overfishing is an
44:33
environmental and welfare but also a
44:35
social justice issue you know we cannot
44:37
live with a dead ocean and that's why
44:39
yeah this is a major major global issue
44:42
to not take care to them as a resource
44:45
that is an asset to us a vitamin or
44:50
benefits for our social benefits room it
44:53
can all make benefits for some something
44:55
that pervades so much for so many people
44:59
to not take care of that is a travesty
45:01
to me it's one of the simplest cleanest
45:05
safest regardless of who's captured by
45:09
what one what method it's still an
45:11
unadulterated product so people can have
45:16
confidence that what they're eating is
45:18
safe and healthy and not humping it so
45:23
that's why it's important that we retain
45:25
stocks within sometimes within yards
45:29
where you're walking on the beach
45:31
there's a vast resource that if
45:33
carefully managed can still be there not
45:36
just for our children but in hundreds of
45:39
years if as a species we survive the
45:43
thing is that we're doing
45:44
[Music]
45:47
the unfortunate truth is overfishing has
45:50
changed our oceans dramatically and
45:52
climate change and pollution will only
45:54
change it further but today you can make
45:58
a difference by choosing to buy seafood
46:00
that has been called sustainable and by
46:02
doing so you're taking a responsibility
46:05
to preserve the oceans seriously and we
46:07
can give stocks a fighting chance to
46:08
recover and to preserve an important
46:11
industry well into the future our waters
46:15
may indeed be troubled but if they are
46:17
to stay that way well that's up to you
46:22
[Music]
46:24
[Applause]
46:27
[Music]
46:58
[Applause]
47:07
[Music]
47:13
you
47:15
[Music]